Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

by Satoshi Yagisawa

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.

A love-letter to secondhand bookshops and reading in general, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was a quick little novel I enjoyed. There was even a coffeeshop! I preferred the first part over the second, but throughout, the sense of setting was especially well-done, and the development of Takako and Satoru's friendship was nice to read as well. 

Jimbocho Book Town sounds like such an interesting place to explore; I'd also never heard of the Kanda Used Book Festival, so I was thrilled to discover it wasn't fictionalized but in fact a real, annual event! I can't imagine how much money I'd end up spending if there was such a place here in America. I've linked a couple articles about both to this page, if you're interested in learning about both.